Transitional Forms of Economic Life in the 18th Century in the Rumeli Provinces of the Ottoman Empire: Barriers and Perspectives

The reforms carried out in the military and fiscal system of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 17th and 18th centuries, had a significant meaning for the changes in economic life and the establishment of transitional forms in the development of agriculture and the urban economy. All of them – mukata’as, malikanes, waqfs, ciftliks – are known from the previous period as well, but acquired different dimensions and directions of development in the conditions of the 18th century. The research is focused on the widespread penetration of the iltizam system in various sectors of the economy in the 18th century, including in the structures of the Orthodox Church. On the example of published and unpublished Ottoman documents – mainly mufassil (detailed) defteris, annual income-expenditure statements, the so called suret, suret-i ruznamce hakani, arzuhals, etc. – the study attempts to trace the role of the mukata’as and the malikane system in the agrarian sector and the urban economy in the Rumeli provinces of the Ottoman Empire, respectively the degree of state intervention, the imposed barriers and the opportunities for economic development in perspective.